A match that proved too big for the Spanish referee

Germany fans celebrate the 2014 World Cup title

The South African sports minister has accused FIFA of being ''very inefficient'' and not acting decisively on match-fixing investigations. In an interview with The Associated Press, Fikile Mbalula criticized the failure of football's governing body to complete an investigation into whether 2010…

Guinea sports minister Domani Dore has contradicted FIFA by saying the 2023 African Cup of Nations cannot be moved back to June to accommodate the re-scheduled 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Dore said there was no chance the African championship can be played in the middle of the year because it was…

The general secretary of Russian Football Union says the organization needs to crack down on the ''virus'' of racism ahead of hosting the 2018 World Cup. Anatoly Vorobyov tells The Associated Press that ''unfortunately not everything is going smoothly'' with Russia's fight against soccer racism…

The Dutch candidate for the FIFA presidency said Monday he wants to boost the number of teams at the World Cup to 40 and give guaranteed berths to host nations and defending champions. Royal Netherlands Football Association Chairman Michael van Praag also said FIFA should send more money to…

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is concerned by a study that highlighted the scale of Russian soccer's racism problem ahead of the 2018 World Cup, warning there ''must be some sanctions'' if the extremism is not eradicated. ''I am aware of the report,'' Blatter told The Associated Press. ''We are…

FIFA president Sepp Blatter wants the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar to take place no later than Dec. 18, a date that would avoid a conflict with the powerful Premier League over the Christmas schedule in England. A FIFA task force this week recommended moving the tournament to November-December to…

A look at some of the incidents highlighted in the report from the Moscow-based SOVA Center and the Fare network, which helps to prosecute racism cases for European football's governing body UEFA. London-based Fare says Russian football is plagued by a racist and far-right extremist fan culture…

Watching a football match in Russia often carries echoes of the grim era of hooliganism in 1980s Britain. There are crumbling stadiums, sparse crowds, clashes between hardcore fans and police, and despite a recent ban, often a pervasive smell of cigarette smoke. Also, as shown Friday in a report…

Russian football is plagued by a racist and far-right extremist fan culture that threatens the safety of visitors to the 2018 World Cup, according to a report provided to The Associated Press. Researchers from the Moscow-based SOVA Center and the Fare network, which helps to prosecute racism cases…

By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Ecstatic Afghans danced in the streets and fired rifles into the air on Thursday to celebrate their national cricket team's first win in their maiden World Cup, a much-needed piece of good news for the country mired in war with Taliban insurgents. Six people…

The fallout from FIFA's desire to play the World Cup in Qatar at the end of 2022 was felt in Europe and Africa on Wednesday. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke rejected calls to compensate wealthy European clubs for disruption to their seasons, and refused to apologize for a November-December…

The 2023 African Cup of Nations in Guinea will move from January to June because of FIFA's plan to switch the 2022 World Cup dates to November-December, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said Wednesday. Valcke said the switch was a concession to clubs who don't want to lose their African…

By Amena Bakr DOHA (Reuters) - FIFA flexed its muscles again on Wednesday when it announced that clubs will not get any compensation for losing players and suffering domestic disruption due to a 2022 winter World Cup in Qatar. A day after a FIFA task force angered Europe's clubs by recommending a…

Veteran Australia midfielder Mark Bresciano has called time on his international career after celebrating the Socceroos' Asian Cup triumph on home soil last month. The 35-year-old, who scored 13 goals in 84 'A' internationals, represented Australia in three consecutive World Cup finals campaigns…

Seven years before the 2022 tournament kicks off in the wealthy emirate, FIFA recommended a break with soccer tradition on Tuesday - moving its marquee tournament to November and December instead of the usual June-July time slot. A FIFA task force meeting in Doha agreed that playing in the cooler…

(Reuters) - FIFA executive committee member Michel D'Hooghe has been cleared of any wrongdoing by an ethics committee investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. FIFA said its ethics committee's judgment chamber had found that "there is insufficient evidence to suggest…

By Amena Bakr DOHA (Reuters) - FIFA has recommended that Qatar hosts a shorter World Cup in 2022 staged over the cooler months of November and December in a move sure to set world soccer's governing body on a collision course with the major European leagues. Asian Football Confederation head…

By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO (Reuters) - South American soccer bosses have yet to react to a possible November-December 2022 World Cup but such a date change should cause little commotion in a region that traditionally ends its season a few weeks before Christmas. A FIFA Task Force on Tuesday…

FIFA's longest-standing executive committee member, Belgian doctor Michel D'Hooghe, has been cleared of four allegations of wrongdoing in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests. FIFA said Tuesday that the judging chamber of its ethics committee ''is satisfied that no further investigation is…